The NorCal Margarita

The fitness geeks at CrossFit have been turning me into something of a nutrition geek of late. Along those lines, Robb Wolf’s blog and Paleolithic Solution podcast have been hugely informative. Rather than attempt to summarize the paleo diet here, I encourage you to check out Robb’s blog and podcast if you are at all into exercise and nutrition. Good stuff.

One particular gem of a discovery is the NorCal Margarita. It’s a tasty adult beverage that the nutrition geek can enjoy, thanks to science!

  1. 2–3 shots of 100% agave tequila.
  2. Juice and pulp from one lime.
  3. Shake it all up with some ice.
  4. Add soda water to taste.

Also, I’ve found that it can help to make a few of them at a time, to average out the different sizes of limes.

This drink is wonderful, for a few reasons:

  1. Tequila is delicous.
  2. Tequila is fermented agave juice, which makes it gluten- or and starch-free. Gluten, as nutrition geeks know, is a gut irritant and just generally bad stuff, and starches are way too dense with unnecessary carbs. Rum could likewise work well here.
  3. Lime juice blunts the insulin response of the alcohol, maintaining your precious and hard-earned insulin sensitivity.
  4. The lime juice also provides a net alkaline load when it gets to the blood stream, which is a good thing. Most other foods provide a net acid load, and it’s nice to balance that out.
  5. The carbon dioxide bubbles in the soda water help get the ethanol into your blood more quickly. This has the practical effect of allowing you to drink a bit less for the same effect.

Yum!